POSTED UNDER Hair Transplant REVIEWS
Why Hair Transplants Are a Bad Idea - Miami, FL
ORIGINAL POST
Hair Transplants are a bad idea. I am a hair...
Understand-Speaks-the-TruthJune 3, 2012
$45,000
Hair Transplants are a bad idea. I am a hair transplant veteran/victim (4 procedures) and I am writing this post to help anyone who is considering this procedure to think twice before doing it. In particular, I am addressing the young men around 30, who don't know what they are getting themselves into. My goal is to get a newbie to NOT rush into this as I did and consider the long-term implications of what they are doing.
These following points should all be considered:
1. There isn't enough hair. If you pour about $40,000 into it, you can get back maximum 25% of your original density. That's it. About 7,500 grafts. It's nothing. Trust me. All you'll be able to do is have a real nice combover. That's about it.
2. The hairs are going to thin and age. This will render the cosmetically insignificant. If you transplant them at 30 years of age, they will not have the same cosmetic impact when you are older. They will look like unmanageable weeds.
3. The donor area will thin over time. This is the horrible truth hair transplant doctors don't tell you. The hairs in the back of your head will start thinning, too. Eventually, you will have the head of any regular old man - except for the giant strip scar or pock-mark dots of the hair transplants.
4. Propecia and other medicines don't work. Don't let the doctors lie to you. Propecia eventually stops working (Merck only ran their studies for five years - the point when they knew it stopped working) and your hair loss will continue. Minoxidil is absolutely worthless. Those are the only "proven" weapons in the arsenal and neither works.
5. New procedures like FUE have lower yields than strip and a host of other risks associated with them. You will never get your old hair back, so don't be fooled by the so-called advances in hair restoration surgery.
Take these five points, add them together and you'll get the simple fact. There is nothing you can really do about your hair loss. Better to shave your head and accept it.
The only qualifier? Hair transplants are excellent for very insecure individuals that want weeds on their head and a giant scar in the back when they become old men. If that fits your profile, then by all means have a hair transplant. If, on the other hand, you want to age like Bruce Willis or Andre Agassi, bald and handsome, let Mother Nature take her course and work on other parts of your life.
The truth is coming out about hair transplants. The number of transplants has come down since the heyday of 2000. (Real Self conveniently provides these stats so check them out) Please don't become another victim like me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret what I did and wish I could just shave my head down.
Replies (331)
July 11, 2012
To USTT,
I fully understand your frustration with the HT industry. I was a victim of the industry as well. Luckily for me I didn't opt for strip and choose to due 1000 grafts FUE for my very first HT. I went with a new doc because of the cheap price who had no reputation or reviews in the field. Had about a 10% survival rate (if that) and I'm out 5K. All this did was make me a smarter patient. I vowed to do as much research and homework I could before making my next decision. In that search I realized two very important things.
First, not all HT docs are created equal. I see you chose Bosely. That place was getting torn up on the forums with bad reviews. Did you do your HW before going to them? Truth of the matter is there are some great HT docs out there (who unfortunately are way too pricey). Then they're some good docs and the rest bad docs who only care about money. My favorite doc right now based on my research is Dr. Umar based out of Redondo Beach, CA. Check out his site when you have a chance. He has excellent feedback and seems to care a lot about his reputation. He also is doing a lot of repair work using body hair (sounds weird but some of his results are really pretty good).
Second, HT is also highly based on the patient and his hair loss progression. If a 25 year-old prospective HT patient knew he was going to be a NW7 in 10 years would he opt for the HT or would he make the smarter choice to just shave it, accept it and save himself 50-100K.
I'm 30 years old and about NW2 (not quite). I been about a NW2 for the past five years. One good thing about my hair loss (if I could even say that) is that it is very slow (I'm also on minoxidil and rogaine). My plan is to correct my NW2 and try and hold on to that as long as I can and then reassess the HT business when my hair loss starts bothering me again. For example, let's say I go in for 1500 grafts and get a great result that last me 5 years. If there hasn't been any new significant developments in the field, I'm just going to shave it, opt for hair replication and call it a day.
I fully understand your frustration with the HT industry. I was a victim of the industry as well. Luckily for me I didn't opt for strip and choose to due 1000 grafts FUE for my very first HT. I went with a new doc because of the cheap price who had no reputation or reviews in the field. Had about a 10% survival rate (if that) and I'm out 5K. All this did was make me a smarter patient. I vowed to do as much research and homework I could before making my next decision. In that search I realized two very important things.
First, not all HT docs are created equal. I see you chose Bosely. That place was getting torn up on the forums with bad reviews. Did you do your HW before going to them? Truth of the matter is there are some great HT docs out there (who unfortunately are way too pricey). Then they're some good docs and the rest bad docs who only care about money. My favorite doc right now based on my research is Dr. Umar based out of Redondo Beach, CA. Check out his site when you have a chance. He has excellent feedback and seems to care a lot about his reputation. He also is doing a lot of repair work using body hair (sounds weird but some of his results are really pretty good).
Second, HT is also highly based on the patient and his hair loss progression. If a 25 year-old prospective HT patient knew he was going to be a NW7 in 10 years would he opt for the HT or would he make the smarter choice to just shave it, accept it and save himself 50-100K.
I'm 30 years old and about NW2 (not quite). I been about a NW2 for the past five years. One good thing about my hair loss (if I could even say that) is that it is very slow (I'm also on minoxidil and rogaine). My plan is to correct my NW2 and try and hold on to that as long as I can and then reassess the HT business when my hair loss starts bothering me again. For example, let's say I go in for 1500 grafts and get a great result that last me 5 years. If there hasn't been any new significant developments in the field, I'm just going to shave it, opt for hair replication and call it a day.
July 19, 2012
Three simple points:
1. Recognize that quality control in the HT industry is very low and the industry is riddled with "discount" surgeons. If the doctor seems to change offices, business names and locations often - that says something. IAHRS surgeon tend to be the top of the food chain in the industry but there are no guarantees.
2. Always do a gut check - plain and simple. You know your situation. You know your genetic history. There are far worse things than shaving your head. Most women really don't care. Don't make a decision in a doctors office, forget the sales people, the 22 year old receptionist in the doctor's office, and the girl back home you are trying to impress. Get quiet, do the gut check, think it over.
3. If you have a HT, you may forgo some options. If you go to a "discount" guy who leave you with a massive scar all across the back of your head (my situation post New Look MD), you either have the option of wearing it longer on the back and sides or getting another HT and scar revision just to repair the scar. This runs into money. You may also find yourself taking Propecia to "maintain" the look. You may or may not have a reaction to the medication but at $200 for 60 to 90 pills it is a pricy habit.
Think about it and trust your gut. If I could do it over again, I would have invested in Wahl and Gillette.
1. Recognize that quality control in the HT industry is very low and the industry is riddled with "discount" surgeons. If the doctor seems to change offices, business names and locations often - that says something. IAHRS surgeon tend to be the top of the food chain in the industry but there are no guarantees.
2. Always do a gut check - plain and simple. You know your situation. You know your genetic history. There are far worse things than shaving your head. Most women really don't care. Don't make a decision in a doctors office, forget the sales people, the 22 year old receptionist in the doctor's office, and the girl back home you are trying to impress. Get quiet, do the gut check, think it over.
3. If you have a HT, you may forgo some options. If you go to a "discount" guy who leave you with a massive scar all across the back of your head (my situation post New Look MD), you either have the option of wearing it longer on the back and sides or getting another HT and scar revision just to repair the scar. This runs into money. You may also find yourself taking Propecia to "maintain" the look. You may or may not have a reaction to the medication but at $200 for 60 to 90 pills it is a pricy habit.
Think about it and trust your gut. If I could do it over again, I would have invested in Wahl and Gillette.
July 20, 2012
For the record, Dr. Garbutt at New Look MD - did my first surgery - horrible scar - the guy actually used big metal staples (unheard of among good surgeons) and I was too naive to know the difference at the time. What a nightmare. The transplant itself was bad too - like 1/4 density to ensure a return trip. When I went back after consulting with several other - frankly better - surgeons who were all uniformly shocked at the scar - Dr. Garbutt was rude, defensive and actually wanted me to pay him to fix the scar he created. Very funny.
November 22, 2012
Can you send me before/After pics of the procedure with Dr.Garbutt? I have an appointment there.
August 18, 2012
I finally have some time to write at length, so I thought I would post further on hair transplants as it is my mission to help others not go down this path without fully considering all of the long-term implications.
First, I'd like to thank all of those that commented in reply to my main post. I appreciate it. I'm here on Real Self to help clarify the misconceptions and factual inaccuracies (shall I just call them flat-out lies?) promoted by the hair transplant industry. The hair transplant industry is a fraud and disgrace. I wish for my posts to act a reality check, that anyone can cash. A few minutes of reading can potentially save another victim years of physical, financial and emotional suffering.
Fortunately, Real Self is a truly reputable website that will allow an open and honest discussion of different cosmetic surgeries. I recently read my posts and I'm quite sure I would have been booted off a lot of the pro-hair transplant sites a long time ago. At the end of the day, they are interested in $$$ and don't want any dissenting opinions. Here on Real Self, I'm grateful for the chance to speak freely about hair transplants.
So what is the truth about hair transplants?
Look, I will say it again and again until the proverbial cows come home...
Hair transplants are at best a semi-permanent and ultimately ineffective solution to a long-term cosmetic problem. The reason for this is simple: 1. there just isn't enough hair; 2. the hair that is transplanted will continue to thin, whiten and die till it is cosmetically worthless. These realities cannot be avoided and there is no medication or treatment that will stop it. With a hair transplant you are fighting a losing war that you will NOT win in the long term.
This is where one will hear a lot of "But..." statements come in. I will comment on a couple of them in this post and then on others in later posts.
Some of the biggest misconceptions include:
- "But what about the pictures on the websites of hair transplant doctors. The patients seem to have a full head of hair. If a doctor can get results like that, then I want a hair transplant."
-- Pictures on hair transplant doctor websites cannot be trusted. Pictures are taken from particular angles and in controlled lighting with the hair styled in a particular way. Beyond this, you are seeing the doctor's very best results, not the ordinary results. In short, you are not getting a realistic idea of a likely outcome of your surgery. This applies to ALL hair transplant doctors. No hair transplant doctor will take a picture of results in bright sunlight with the hair tussled about instead of combed over. None.
- "But what about Propecia and minoxidil? I'm taking those. They'll hold my hair and the transplants will fill in the rest."
-- Yep. That might be the biggest lie of all. That's the one I fell for 8 years ago. Now the doctors have added lasers, PRP, A-cell, and possibly Latisse to the armory of worthless snake oil that will not stop your hair loss in the long-run. Propecia even carries a risk of impotence (erectile dysfunction) with it.
Think about it. If these medicines worked, then there would be no bald people. Young men would just take them and - "Presto!" - baldness would be a thing of the past. Not happening. Propecia has been around for more than a decade now and men are still going bald. Propecia may work for a little while (5 years or so) but then your hair will continue to die. Minoxidil might help to keep it thick and dark for a little while, but eventually they will turn thin and old. The other junk is experimental and have no proven cosmetic benefits. Nothing is going to stop the progression of your hair loss. A potential hair transplant patient needs to accept and understand this fundamental reality.
- "But what about the surgical skill of the doctor. I'm planning on going to a top doctor in the field. I know he will give me good results. I just know it."
-- With hair transplants, the bad doctor is always the other guy's doctor. What I mean is that most men are ashamed or embarrassed to comment on their hair transplants if they are not satisfied (so you won't hear them comment). I know this because it took me years to accept the truth and then have the courage to tell the world about it. If I had to guess, I would imagine that 80% of hair transplant patients will regret their surgeries in the long run (10-20 years) after the baldness has run its course. Also, there are many men who will claim to be satisfied with their hair transplants even if the cosmetic results are terrible (but they won't post pics). These poor men represent the saddest and most extreme cases of male insecurity (hair transplant doctors love them as patients) and even a few weeds on their domes will make them happy. Next, you do have those legitimately good results (the top 5%) that sell the product for the industry. Mostly, these are younger guys that have poured their life savings (often in excess of $50,000) into hair transplants. Of course, they are still young so we don't know the long term results of their hair transplants when the hairs age and thin. Finally, you have all the patient reps (shall we call them paid shills?) posting bogus stories all over the Internet promoting either a specific doctor, the industry at large, or both. It's a common industry practice and hair transplant clinics do it regularly. This is how shameless and unethical this industry is. They need to lie constantly to reel in another batch of suckers.
- "But my doctor tells me I have great donor hair. He mapped my hair our for minituarization, and he says I'm an excellent candidate for a hair transplant."
- Yep. I fell for that one, too. My first doctor told me the same bull manure. It is next to impossible to look at the back of a man's head and predict where the baldness is going to go. Not only can you not tell where the hair will stop falling out, but you also can't tell what the color and quality of the hair will look like long term. In addition, you may suffer from diffuse balding which means all of your hair will start to thin out in the donor region.
These so-called doctors are nothing but snake oil salesmen who are lying to you. They cannot predict what will happen to your hair. No one can. Only your genes and DNA will be the ultimate arbiter of how your hair will thin and die out.
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at a potential patient. His name is Steve Jobs.
The link below shows you many pictures of Steve Jobs when was a young man with long thick black hair at about age 25.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AgPz7bEqBKQBTppQbGukqUebvZx4?p=steve+jobs+young&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-701
This link shows you Steve Jobs as an older man at 50 years old.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A2KJkP3VGi9QuXcAto2JzbkF?p=steve%20jobs%20pictures&fr=yfp-t-701&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&fr2=sg-gac&sado=1
Look at the quality of the hair. It's completely changed. It's not thick, it's not long, it's not black and it's not straight. It's thin, wiry, see through and cosmetically worthless. What kind of hair (and how much?) do you think you could get out of the back of Steve Jobs head that would make a major cosmetic difference on the top of his head? Be realistic and think clearly. The end result of multiple hair transplants would at best make Steve Jobs look the same but with a few weeds on his head. Plain and simple.
I'll stop here. I think I've made my point clear enough for now. However, I am painfully aware (as a victim myself) that I will have to keep repeating it to reach even a fraction of the readers reading these posts. I was also once so insecure that almost nothing would have dissuased me from going under the knife. I now realize I was a pathetic and vain loser, emptying out my bank account for a pipe dream sold to me by the most disreputable industry in cosmetic surgery.
Think about it all of this before you do the same. If Steve Jobs, with his billions of dollars, never felt the need to get a hair transplant, then ask yourself why you, with limited funds, need one. In the long run it's not going to make any real difference in your life. It won't stop the passage of time or your aging. You're going grow old and go bald. Face it. Accept it. You can be bald naturally or bald with the back of your head all scarred up (even with FUE).
Sorry to run on. Hope this helps some of the fence sitters. If you go under the knife, there is no turning back. Hair loss will become your life and a financial and emotional drain that will follow you the rest of your life. Trust me. You don't want that.
Good luck to all. And feel free to comment (even if you disagree). The more we talk about it, the more we can get at the truth. The truth - that is and will always remain the most important thing when dealing with an industry that survives on deceptive business practices.
First, I'd like to thank all of those that commented in reply to my main post. I appreciate it. I'm here on Real Self to help clarify the misconceptions and factual inaccuracies (shall I just call them flat-out lies?) promoted by the hair transplant industry. The hair transplant industry is a fraud and disgrace. I wish for my posts to act a reality check, that anyone can cash. A few minutes of reading can potentially save another victim years of physical, financial and emotional suffering.
Fortunately, Real Self is a truly reputable website that will allow an open and honest discussion of different cosmetic surgeries. I recently read my posts and I'm quite sure I would have been booted off a lot of the pro-hair transplant sites a long time ago. At the end of the day, they are interested in $$$ and don't want any dissenting opinions. Here on Real Self, I'm grateful for the chance to speak freely about hair transplants.
So what is the truth about hair transplants?
Look, I will say it again and again until the proverbial cows come home...
Hair transplants are at best a semi-permanent and ultimately ineffective solution to a long-term cosmetic problem. The reason for this is simple: 1. there just isn't enough hair; 2. the hair that is transplanted will continue to thin, whiten and die till it is cosmetically worthless. These realities cannot be avoided and there is no medication or treatment that will stop it. With a hair transplant you are fighting a losing war that you will NOT win in the long term.
This is where one will hear a lot of "But..." statements come in. I will comment on a couple of them in this post and then on others in later posts.
Some of the biggest misconceptions include:
- "But what about the pictures on the websites of hair transplant doctors. The patients seem to have a full head of hair. If a doctor can get results like that, then I want a hair transplant."
-- Pictures on hair transplant doctor websites cannot be trusted. Pictures are taken from particular angles and in controlled lighting with the hair styled in a particular way. Beyond this, you are seeing the doctor's very best results, not the ordinary results. In short, you are not getting a realistic idea of a likely outcome of your surgery. This applies to ALL hair transplant doctors. No hair transplant doctor will take a picture of results in bright sunlight with the hair tussled about instead of combed over. None.
- "But what about Propecia and minoxidil? I'm taking those. They'll hold my hair and the transplants will fill in the rest."
-- Yep. That might be the biggest lie of all. That's the one I fell for 8 years ago. Now the doctors have added lasers, PRP, A-cell, and possibly Latisse to the armory of worthless snake oil that will not stop your hair loss in the long-run. Propecia even carries a risk of impotence (erectile dysfunction) with it.
Think about it. If these medicines worked, then there would be no bald people. Young men would just take them and - "Presto!" - baldness would be a thing of the past. Not happening. Propecia has been around for more than a decade now and men are still going bald. Propecia may work for a little while (5 years or so) but then your hair will continue to die. Minoxidil might help to keep it thick and dark for a little while, but eventually they will turn thin and old. The other junk is experimental and have no proven cosmetic benefits. Nothing is going to stop the progression of your hair loss. A potential hair transplant patient needs to accept and understand this fundamental reality.
- "But what about the surgical skill of the doctor. I'm planning on going to a top doctor in the field. I know he will give me good results. I just know it."
-- With hair transplants, the bad doctor is always the other guy's doctor. What I mean is that most men are ashamed or embarrassed to comment on their hair transplants if they are not satisfied (so you won't hear them comment). I know this because it took me years to accept the truth and then have the courage to tell the world about it. If I had to guess, I would imagine that 80% of hair transplant patients will regret their surgeries in the long run (10-20 years) after the baldness has run its course. Also, there are many men who will claim to be satisfied with their hair transplants even if the cosmetic results are terrible (but they won't post pics). These poor men represent the saddest and most extreme cases of male insecurity (hair transplant doctors love them as patients) and even a few weeds on their domes will make them happy. Next, you do have those legitimately good results (the top 5%) that sell the product for the industry. Mostly, these are younger guys that have poured their life savings (often in excess of $50,000) into hair transplants. Of course, they are still young so we don't know the long term results of their hair transplants when the hairs age and thin. Finally, you have all the patient reps (shall we call them paid shills?) posting bogus stories all over the Internet promoting either a specific doctor, the industry at large, or both. It's a common industry practice and hair transplant clinics do it regularly. This is how shameless and unethical this industry is. They need to lie constantly to reel in another batch of suckers.
- "But my doctor tells me I have great donor hair. He mapped my hair our for minituarization, and he says I'm an excellent candidate for a hair transplant."
- Yep. I fell for that one, too. My first doctor told me the same bull manure. It is next to impossible to look at the back of a man's head and predict where the baldness is going to go. Not only can you not tell where the hair will stop falling out, but you also can't tell what the color and quality of the hair will look like long term. In addition, you may suffer from diffuse balding which means all of your hair will start to thin out in the donor region.
These so-called doctors are nothing but snake oil salesmen who are lying to you. They cannot predict what will happen to your hair. No one can. Only your genes and DNA will be the ultimate arbiter of how your hair will thin and die out.
Don't believe me? Let's take a look at a potential patient. His name is Steve Jobs.
The link below shows you many pictures of Steve Jobs when was a young man with long thick black hair at about age 25.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AgPz7bEqBKQBTppQbGukqUebvZx4?p=steve+jobs+young&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-701
This link shows you Steve Jobs as an older man at 50 years old.
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A2KJkP3VGi9QuXcAto2JzbkF?p=steve%20jobs%20pictures&fr=yfp-t-701&ei=utf-8&n=30&x=wrt&fr2=sg-gac&sado=1
Look at the quality of the hair. It's completely changed. It's not thick, it's not long, it's not black and it's not straight. It's thin, wiry, see through and cosmetically worthless. What kind of hair (and how much?) do you think you could get out of the back of Steve Jobs head that would make a major cosmetic difference on the top of his head? Be realistic and think clearly. The end result of multiple hair transplants would at best make Steve Jobs look the same but with a few weeds on his head. Plain and simple.
I'll stop here. I think I've made my point clear enough for now. However, I am painfully aware (as a victim myself) that I will have to keep repeating it to reach even a fraction of the readers reading these posts. I was also once so insecure that almost nothing would have dissuased me from going under the knife. I now realize I was a pathetic and vain loser, emptying out my bank account for a pipe dream sold to me by the most disreputable industry in cosmetic surgery.
Think about it all of this before you do the same. If Steve Jobs, with his billions of dollars, never felt the need to get a hair transplant, then ask yourself why you, with limited funds, need one. In the long run it's not going to make any real difference in your life. It won't stop the passage of time or your aging. You're going grow old and go bald. Face it. Accept it. You can be bald naturally or bald with the back of your head all scarred up (even with FUE).
Sorry to run on. Hope this helps some of the fence sitters. If you go under the knife, there is no turning back. Hair loss will become your life and a financial and emotional drain that will follow you the rest of your life. Trust me. You don't want that.
Good luck to all. And feel free to comment (even if you disagree). The more we talk about it, the more we can get at the truth. The truth - that is and will always remain the most important thing when dealing with an industry that survives on deceptive business practices.
Hi there, thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. Did you see any results from your transplant or was it unsuccessful from the start?
Because I'm very passionate about warning others, I will answer at length.
The answer to that question can best be answered by a brief descripition of the six month follow-up after my first surgery at Bosley. A patient rep (also a guy with see-through hair) held a mirror up to my see-through hair and smiled, telling me how good I look. I demanded to see the doctor. I told the doctor, "But it's not real thickness. It's just a thin layer of hair. You can see right through it." He told me, "A lot of guys look like that. Don't worry about it." I paid $10,000 for see-through hair and he told me not to worry about it. Just not right! Then he told me about hair multiplication being available in 5 years (this was in 2004). I told him, "Well, at least the Propecia will hold the hairs until the cloning gets here." He said, "Oh, sorry. That hairline is going to go. You'll need more surgeries before then."
I walked out of that office in a rage, with only a vague notion of the long nightmare I was about to embark upon. It took me years to realize to fully understand what I had gotten myself into. It took me years to understand the essence of the scam - misdirection. The doctor will accentuate the positive and try to convince you that he can cover up the baldness on your head with 20% of the original density. He will completely pretend like the long-term progression of hair loss and the dying, whitening and thinning of the the transplanted hairs is something to worry about for another day. It is ignorance that truly borders on clinical insanity. Hair transplant doctors talk about a "master plan". But what kind of plan is possible when there is not enough hair and the quality of those hairs will eventually be cosmetically worthless?
Basically, hair transplant doctors have extremely LOW standards of what constitutes a cosmetically significant hairline. And they need to find patients/victims with equally low standards in order to make the con-man/victim relationship work properly.
In my doctor's mind, I had results. In my mind, I didn't. Why? Because he didn't show me patient pictures of see-through hairlines like the one he gave me. He showed me doctored pictures and pictures taken at particular angles to hide the baldness. In short, I was lied to, like so many other have been lied to.
But the hair transplant doctor thinks the doctored pictures and your see-through hairline look more or less the same. I've sat and talked to countless hair transplant doctors and they always think the same way. They will always tell you there is a lot of hair when in reality there is nothing but a few weeds. They are proud of their work - total garbage though it may be.They'll tell a guy with Jason Alexander's hairline that he looks like George Clooney. It's embarrasing the kind of backslapping and self-congratulation for such poor cosmetic results. Hair transplant doctors need extremely insecure patients to meet them halfway in accepting their delusional views of the long-term benefits of hair transplants.
Just look at the back of Jason Statham's head. Where would the hair for his transplants come from? Can you imagine Jason Statham being a big-time action star, running around with a few weeds on his head and a giant linear scar in the back? A hair transplant doctor would tell him he looks great with the weeds. William Rassman tried to butcher Bruce Willis in the mid-90's and this was before the advent of micrografting. Of course, Bruce never called him and I think it's obvious he made the right choice. I'm not making that story up. I posted up a link in a comment on the "Hair Transplant Nightmare" review on this website.
Just look at the pictures here on Real Self (Real Self does the public a service by providing real and honest pictures). Don't look at the ones of the occassional younger guy with limited hair loss. Look at the pictures of the older men (which is where we will all end up) and see how the hairs are combed and the pictures shot. If you look carefully, you will see the transplants are nothing but glorifed combovers. The hairs are white and dying. You can see to the scalp. It's pretty much the Joe Biden look. In the long-run, that is what you are paying for with a hair transplant. As a doctor once told me, "We're trying to make it look like naturally thinning hair." Rough translation: "We want to put weeds on your head to make it look like you are in a perpetually balding state."
Thanks for your question. I hope I didn't run too long. I'm just trying to help others (especially young men) look at this with a LONG-TERM perspective. They can read my comments in many of the "Not Worth It" reviews. If they have any questions, they can ask. I won't pull any punches. They need to know: they are NOT beating hair loss, they are simply putting off the day of reckoning. When that day comes, most of them will regret they went under the knife. Those that don't will be satisfied with what many others is a poor cosmetic reconstruction of the hairline that was once there.
If this is what a man wants, then great. Awesome. But
If that is what some men want, then great. Awesome. The hair transplant industry can serve that market. But if the way of drumming up new business is by deceiving so many others, then the industry as a whole needs to do some soul searching and clean up its deceptive business practices.
Like so many people interested in hair restoration (myself included years ago) you really don't have a strong grasp of the terminology. FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) is non-strip. FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) IS the traditional strip method. So a statement showing interest in FUE/FUT is counterintuitive.
What you really mean to say is FUE/FIT. FIT stands for Follicular Isolation Technique. It is a another term for FUE, the non-strip method. Hope this clears up any confusion.
Finally, to answer your question...
Yes, FUE/FIT does leave scars. They are tiny white dots instead of one long strip. Every part of your scalp down to the neck will be covered with these little white dots if you need to extract heavily from the donor region. FUE/FIT is also extremely expensive. Be prepared to spend $20,000 or more in order to get about 2,000 grafts. That might sound like a lot but it's really not.
You say you are 40 and balding slowly. If that trend holds, then FUE/FIT might be a good idea. But remember that baldness is unpredictable. John Travolta had long hair into his 40's and then it all fell apart as he headed into his 50's. Now he wears a piece. With baldness, it's really hard to tell what will happen. So be ready for anything.